Armed with Data, IAB Says Bigger Ads Are Indeed More ‘Viewable’

Are bigger ads easier for Web users to see? That, surprisingly, turns out to be quite a controversial question.

Web publishers have tried to satisfy advertisers' understandable desire to pay only for ads people can actually see. The theory was that big splashy ads at the top of Web pages would be more "viewable" than standard ads lower down that often have poor viewability rates.

Well, viewability rates for the super-size ads can be even worse, some Web publishers say. People have a tendency to scroll quickly down Web pages, so they often don't linger on these big, in-your-face ads long enough to be counted as "viewable" under the tracking methodology used by popular third-party vendors.

Now, the Interactive Advertising Bureau is battling that narrative. The ad industry trade group, which has made improving the quality of Web ads a mission over the past few years, has put out new research that shows bigger, richer ads to be more effective and impactful than standard units.

The study, conducted by C3Research, found that the IAB's "Rising Star" ad placements (those bigger bolder ads that are endorsed by the IAB) delivered higher interaction rates than standard units: 34% versus 11%, on average.

Rising Star ads also deliver a 30% larger lift in key metrics such as whether a person who sees an ad is more likely to consider purchasing that company's product, IAB says. And consumers tend to look at Rising Star ads for a longer duration, the research showed.

The message seems to be: "Hey, online ad industry, don't discount all this work we've done to make ads better for brands, in the name of making sure your viewability numbers are strong."

Sherrill Mane, senior vice president of research, analytics and measurement at IAB, said the research was conducted independently from the organization's work on viewabilty, and was specifically focused on measuring how well the Rising Stars ads work. "Rising Stars are more aesthetically pleasing and, as this study shows, more effective than traditional legacy banners," she said.